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coachteater

State team race if format changes

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1 hour ago, GentleBeard said:

What about Corbin Civic Center? Or the arena the middle school state tournament used last year? I bet they could get good deals on those venues without really changing the format of qualifying for state. 
 

I realize it’s not ideal, but nothing is this year.

Its my understanding that no big arena like that will work because of what they charge and only being able to have 15% attendance.  The math just doesnt work, they will lose money 

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37 minutes ago, coachteater said:

Its my understanding that no big arena like that will work because of what they charge and only being able to have 15% attendance.  The math just doesnt work, they will lose money 

They’re probably going to lose money anyway if they can only fill an arena to 15% capacity. It’s either 10,000 seat arena for 32 man bracket or a 5,000 seat arena for 16 man bracket. Have they tried to negotiate, or increase the fan capacity? What places are they looking at?

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It was my understanding that the Appalachian wireless arena was donated to Middle School State last year is this a possibility for high school. I thought it was a pretty nice venue with nice hotels with in walking distance

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1 hour ago, GentleBeard said:

They’re probably going to lose money anyway if they can only fill an arena to 15% capacity. It’s either 10,000 seat arena for 32 man bracket or a 5,000 seat arena for 16 man bracket. Have they tried to negotiate, or increase the fan capacity? What places are they looking at?

Say you have 16 man in a gym, 224 kids . You can do 2 fans per kid, 448. 448 x $30 (ticket) is $13,000. Plus money on concession im sure they will make and apparel.  That will definitely make enough money to cover gym rental at a high school,  refs, trainers, and still make money. 

And yes, they are negotiating to have wrestlers not counted towards the limit. That would give 600 fans and even more revenue.  A lot of this was talked about in the board meeting.  Its on YouTube if you couldnt watch that day. I think they are looking at it being at a high school. Clark co is a new nice gym and i believe they can get it free. That is where they held volleyball state

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37 minutes ago, coachteater said:

. I think they are looking at it being at a high school. Clark co is a new nice gym and i believe they can get it free. That is where they held volleyball state

How wonderful just like the good ole days when it was held at Atherton High school when Atherton did not have a wrestling team either. 

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11 hours ago, grappler-of-old said:

How wonderful just like the good ole days when it was held at Atherton High school when Atherton did not have a wrestling team either. 

Yes, and kids in school while the event is going on. Although I guess there is a good chance that would be an NTI day at this point. 

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If the Appalachian Wireless Arena is donated like last year, by example,  regional tournaments could be hosted on March 13th and state could be on March 27th.  This gives 2 weeks between state duals (if we have them) and the region tournament; and 2 weeks between the region tournaments and state.  My family in Oklahoma said the OSSAA did something similar to help those kids who qualified for state be able to compete in the state tournament while mitigating risks. This would be simple enough to do if you just preponed regionals to March 13th. If we do semi-state, of which I'm not opposed, what dates are being proposed and how will risk be mitigated to ensure those that qualify for state will be able to compete?  If you have a semi-state tournament and a team catches the sickness, how many people would be affected?  

If we had a semi-state, I would assume the schedule would be:

February 27th - State Duals

March 6th - Girls State and Middle School State

March 13th - Regionals

March 20th - Semi-State

March 27th - State

From the KHSAA perspective (not mine), it seems like they would not want to do this as it would add risks, not mitigate them.

Without a semi-state, I would assume the schedule would be:

February 27th - State Duals

March 6th - Girls State and Middle School State

March 13th - Regionals

March 27th - State

448 athletes = 32 man bracket

2 spectators per wrestler

The numbers would work for an arena rather than a high school, especially if wrestlers will not be counted towards the 15% capacity. I'm not opposed to having a semi-state, but I think it could add more risks rather than mitigate them this year only because we are waiting so long into the season to figure it out.  We really should review the qualification process in the future.  It definitely needs an overhaul.

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2 hours ago, Ranger123 said:

Yes, and kids in school while the event is going on. Although I guess there is a good chance that would be an NTI day at this point. 

Yes. Nothing says "state champ" like a 4th period bell ringing in the middle of the match.

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What are the limiting factors? Is it people, a percentage, time? Seems like a regular old 2 day tourney with fewer fans could easily happen. Maybe even run 2 gyms like state duals at Lindsey Wilson. 

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36 minutes ago, GentleBeard said:

If the Appalachian Wireless Arena is donated like last year,

 

 

The big problem here would be the 6-7 hour drive that Western Ky would have going to the arena. 

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24 minutes ago, grappler-of-old said:

The big problem here would be the 6-7 hour drive that Western Ky would have going to the arena. 

If it is for one year and if it helps accommodate all 4 regional qualifiers, I don’t think think region 1 would care much with the region being that tough. 

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12 minutes ago, ukpridewrestler11 said:

If it is for one year and if it helps accommodate all 4 regional qualifiers, I don’t think think region 1 would care much with the region being that tough. 

We'd drive 15 hours if it meant we could compete...

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2 hours ago, ukpridewrestler11 said:

If it is for one year and if it helps accommodate all 4 regional qualifiers, I don’t think think region 1 would care much with the region being that tough. 

I was pointing this out because this may cause KHSAA to balk at this idea. I think that region 1 would have to be ok with it for KHSAA to consider this option. 

I think if KHSAA is willing to not have the state tournament centrally located that WK and NK may have some options also. 

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2 hours ago, grappler-of-old said:

I was pointing this out because this may cause KHSAA to balk at this idea. I think that region 1 would have to be ok with it for KHSAA to consider this option. 

I think if KHSAA is willing to not have the state tournament centrally located that WK and NK may have some options also. 

We complained when middle school was there. It was a haul, but not really a big deal. The place is very nice and the hotels are right there. We parked the van and walked all weekend. 

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Even if it was free, I dont think khsaa would go because they want to be within driving distance of Lexington.  In the meeting they said they would not being staying overnite and that the khsaa members need to plan to commute. 

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48 minutes ago, coachteater said:

Even if it was free, I dont think khsaa would go because they want to be within driving distance of Lexington.  In the meeting they said they would not being staying overnite and that the khsaa members need to plan to commute. 

If region 1 and 2 teams are willing to make that drive, maybe KHSAA could make a sacrifice for a night. It might not be a bad thing to be open minded. There’s a lot of good input on this thread. I’m afraid this post season is setting up to be a logistical nightmare when in reality the only issue that’s needed is an appropriate venue that some have already suggested. 

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19 minutes ago, GentleBeard said:

If region 1 and 2 teams are willing to make that drive, maybe KHSAA could make a sacrifice for a night. It might not be a bad thing to be open minded. There’s a lot of good input on this thread. I’m afraid this post season is setting up to be a logistical nightmare when in reality the only issue that’s needed is an appropriate venue that some have already suggested. 

Suggesting the venue is the easy part. Getting the venue is what is going to possibly be difficult. I don’t know what the status of that particular venue is, but many large venues simply aren’t hosting any events. Some of it is by choice, some is because local regulations aren’t allowing them to host large events. We are in an unprecedented time, and solutions simply won’t come quickly or easily, and what seems like it will work one day, might not be a solution down the road as things change.

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4 minutes ago, rjs4470 said:

Suggesting the venue is the easy part. Getting the venue is what is going to possibly be difficult. I don’t know what the status of that particular venue is, but many large venues simply aren’t hosting any events. Some of it is by choice, some is because local regulations aren’t allowing them to host large events. We are in an unprecedented time, and solutions simply won’t come quickly or easily, and what seems like it will work one day, might not be a solution down the road as things change.

That’s why I suggested a location that has a history of working with wrestlers in an area where local restrictions might not be as stringent as other places. I honestly don’t care where it’s held - far east, far west, or Butte, Montana - we will travel. Any and all options should be on the table at this point, IMO. What other locations are there? Has anyone reached out?

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Appalachian wireless arena l Believe is already hosting middle school state march 6, so they are an open venue.  l honestly have no idea if they have March 27 open or not. I will say its a much better venue then the horse park as long as you don’t mind the drive, which l’m pretty sure the way region 1 is used to competing they won’t. If you can get it Donated or discounted you can probably take some of that money saved and set the KHSAAA members  up in the hotels. (They even have a Hilton) Just trying to throw some ideas out to make it a great tournament 

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IMO KHSAA will want the venue for State to be centrally located regardless of availability of Appalachian Wireless or anywhere in Northern KY or even in Louisville.  Biggest reason = money, of which they don't have as much nor want to spend as much to rent for a weekend.   Since the Horse Park is out, and with the likely restrictions on attendance from covid, any chance a college in the Lexington or nearby area (Transy, Georgetown, etc) would allow KHSAA to host the State tourney??

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18 minutes ago, rdc517 said:

IMO KHSAA will want the venue for State to be centrally located regardless of availability of Appalachian Wireless or anywhere in Northern KY or even in Louisville.  Biggest reason = money, of which they don't have as much nor want to spend as much to rent for a weekend.   Since the Horse Park is out, and with the likely restrictions on attendance from covid, any chance a college in the Lexington or nearby area (Transy, Georgetown, etc) would allow KHSAA to host the State tourney??

Another reason for a location to be centrally located is that many school districts have restrictions on travel distance and/or aren't allowing overnight stays for athletic teams,

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Just for thought, capacity is based on local county health department recommendations. The Appalachian Wireless center was essentially donated for the middle school and youth tournaments last season as well as this current season. The capacity for the arena during covid has been set at just over 7000.  

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1 hour ago, rjs4470 said:

Another reason for a location to be centrally located is that many school districts have restrictions on travel distance and/or aren't allowing overnight stays for athletic teams,

Regardless of a 16 or 32 man bracket the state tourney will be 2 nights.  Teams will have to travel regardless and most will have to spend the night.  I would believe that there would be an exception for a state tourney, otherwise some teams will still not be able to participate. 

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The other issue is finding/getting a hotel. KHSAA is going to wait until the last minute to make a decision and every team that has to travel is going to fill up hotels, if they can even get one or even have enough hotels in those areas depending on where these sites will be.

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